Artificial limb.



PATENTED APR. 3, 1906.

H. LEONARD.

ARTIFICIAL LIME.

AYPLIOATION FILED mm: 26. 1905 INVENTOILY. 7 2mm WCLWMOL P ENT- ()FFICE.

NTE il no. s1 aeee.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 3, 1906.

Application filed June 26, 1905- Serial No. 266,912.

To 0071/ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, I'IJALMAR LEONARD, a citizenof the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Artificial Limbs; and Ido declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

Myinvention has .reference to artificial limbs; and the inventionconsists in an improvement in the means for cushioning the socket of anartificial limb, all substantially as shown and" described, andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevationof an artificial limb embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspectiveview of one form of elastic or spring carrier, and Fig. 3 is a similarview of another form thereof with. the elastic or spring shown in bothviews. Fig. 4 is a perspective inside view of a portion of the legmember at its top, showing a recess therein adapted to receive one ofthe said spring-cariiers. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line as a',

In the device as thus shown a construction and arrangement of parts isprovided for attachment to legs which have been amputated below theknee-joint, thus leaving a stub of the leg or limb beneath said joint,which is socketed in the device and sprin -cushioned in said socket. Tothese ends the device is provided with a jacket or corset A, usually andpreferably of leather, with eyelets and lacin s at the front and adaptedto be fastenetI upon the natural leg above the knee, as is now commonlyknown. This forms an anchorage for the device upon the natural leg orbody of the wearer.

B is the artificial-leg part or member, carryin a su1tably-jointed footC thereon, as usua and the said parts are united by metallic straps a,fixed firmly in the sides of jacket A, and like straps b, fixed firmlyto or upon leg-section B, and said straps jointed together at a pointcoinciding with thenatural joint of the knee and so arranged as not tointerfere with the natural action of the kneejoint.

E represents a stub-socket or socket member adapted to receive thenatural stub of the leg below the knee and to sustain the proportion ofWeight which comes directly upon necessary, and to this end is adaptedto yieldwithin. limits under spring cushioning or yielding supports orsuspenders of its own, housed in the wall of leg-section B, as will nowbe seen. Thus the said stub-socket E is slidably confined between and bythe straps I) and has guideways or grooves 2 in its sides adapted toreceive the said straps, which preferably come about flush with theouter surface of the said socket, and a lower annularly-reducedextremity or portion 3 on said part itself extends down into theleg-section B, thus providing an annular shoulder 4 on the said socketmember adapted to extend over and rest down upon the immediate upperedge of said leg-section as the possible limit of its movement, as willbe seen further along. An annular band F is fixed about the top ofleg-section B, which overlaps the socket member above its shoulder 4 andserves in part as a guide for said member as well as providing a smoothexterior at the joint or union of said parts. Now in order to provide asuitable spring-supporting medium for the stub-socket which will affordperfect comfort and ease to the wearer and act harmoniously with theother parts I provide recesses 5, two or more, in the top of leg sectionor member B, which have shoulders 6 at their top and sides beneath theimmediate top edge of the said member, and these are closed ontheirinside by shields or casings 7, of light sheet metal, and engagedby their inner flanges over shoulders 6, thus providing pockets toreceive the cushioning or spring mechanism and providing a smoothinterior over said recesses. The said mechanism comprises a rectangularcarrier or frame H, open between its sides and ends to receive theelastic or flexible webbing L, which is supported in said carrier andremovable therewith from the leg. Different ways may be employed forfixing the webbing in said frame and supporting the same and the frameor carrier in suspended o erating position-as, for example, the'web ingis looped around a cross rod or piece 8 in the lower portion of theframe and secured at its ends between clamps 9, which extend laterallyat both ends beyond the outside of the frame and are adapted to rest onshoulders 6 of the recesseswhereby said frames or carriers and springsare suspended from said shoulders with room to be depressed, and theupper ends or portions of the frames extend above the top of the legmember relatively, as shown in Fig. 1, in their normal state, therebyproviding a rest for the socket or socket member E through its shoulder4.

In Fig. 3 the frame or carrier H is pro-.

vided with slots 10 longitudinally at its sides and to through whichprojects a supporting-r0 12, having the elastic strip engaged thereoverand projecting at its ends outside the carrier to rest on shoulder 6, asdo the ends of pieces 9, Fig. 2. Thus in either and all cases the springor yielding cushion is housed in the leg member, while the casing orcarrier therefor extends permanently above the upper edge thereof, so asto provide a spring-rest of the requisite resistance or strength tocarry the weight that may come thereon, and which may be measuredaccording to the weight of the person who is to wear the limb.

What I claim is 1. In artificial limbs, the combination of a leg memberand a stump-socket thereon, re-

cesses in the to of said member and socketcarriers in sai recesseshaving elastic supporting-strips, and supports for said strips andcarriers provided with lateral projections at their outer ends restingon said leg member at the top of said recesses.

2. In artificial limbs, a leg member having a plurality of recesses inits top, in combination with a stump-socket seated over said recesses,independent carriers therefor removably located in said recesses, andmeans to yieldingly suspend said carriers in said recesses with theirupper ends above the top of said leg member.

3. In artificial limbs, a leg member having a square-shouldered top, incombination with a stump-socket having a reduced inner portion enteringsaid leg member and an annular shoulder outside said reduced innerportion, recesses in the top of said leg member, rectangular carriers insaid recesses and spring-supports in said carriers, and a crosspiece foreach carrier having one end of said spring-support engaged therewith.

In testlmony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

HJALMAR LEONARD. Witnesses R. B. MosER, H. T. FISHER.

